The Special Meeting
by monkeymouse
Summary: After Phoenix, Harry is a wreck and Cho isn't too happy either. Will getting them together change anything?


THE SPECIAL MEETING (from Harry's Sixth Year)

By monkeymouse

xxx

The Hogwarts Express had been rolling north for three hours Cho Chang walked past the compartment where Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting.  Ron and Harry were playing Exploding Snap and didn't look up.  Ginny and Hermione definitely noticed, however; they saw Cho, who once was constantly surrounded by laughing and chattering friends, standing alone in the corridor, looking in at Harry, cheeks burning red, sorrow in her eyes.  She stayed for almost a minute, looking in at Harry, then quickly walked off.

Harry and Ron didn't notice, but others did.

"Ginny, would you come down the corridor with me for a minute?" Hermione suddenly asked,  "There's someone I want you to meet."

Ginny nodded.  The girls stepped past the boys out into the corridor, then walked back the way Cho had come.  When they came to a girls' lavatory, they ducked inside.

"Well, what's the problem?" Ginny asked, adding, "As if I can't guess."

"Did you see Cho just now, the way she was looking at Harry?  I'd say that things aren't over yet between them."

"You don't have to tell me about Cho; Michael Corner did that this summer."

"But I thought you dumped him."

"I did, and he took off after Cho.  He must have thought she'd be vulnerable or something.  But he didn't have any luck with her at all.  If they weren't talking about Quidditch, it was about Cedric.  And every time he tried to touch her, she'd back off.  He sent me an owl all about it just after the break started."

"So, are you back to seeing him?"

"Once or twice," Ginny smiled.  "He can be fun."

"Well, Cho doesn't seem to think so."

"And what about Harry?"

"Didn't Ron tell you?"

"Doesn't matter a bit to him that I'm Fifth Year now.  He still treats me like a kid.  Doesn't tell me a thing."

"Well, Harry's been useless these past two months.  Mopes around, doesn't say much, shuts himself up alone whenever he can."

"Losing Sirius like that really hit him that hard?"

"Yes, about as hard as losing Cedric Diggory has hit someone else.  Ginny, there's no way around it.  We HAVE to get those two back to talking.  If they don't work out their differences and their feelings, they'll both be useless when the time comes."

"But they aren't speaking to each other.  How do we change that?"

Hermione smiled.  "I have something in mind."

Xxx

That evening, as they waited for the new First Years to arrive and the Sorting to begin, Marietta Edgecombe walked over from the Ravenclaw table to Harry Potter.  Her face had largely cleared up, and only a pink trace of the word "nit" was now visible.

"Harry," she said hesitantly, "I'm awfully sorry about what happened.  But my mum made it clear that nothing would happen to anybody if I told her a bit of what was going on.  I never dreamed she'd lie to me.  I just hope you'll let me back in the D.A."

Harry didn't even look up as he said, "Was this your idea or did Cho put you up to it?"  His voice was as angry and full of contempt as it had been all summer.

Marietta's eyes flashed with her own anger.  She turned on her heel and marched back to the Ravenclaw table.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged knowing glances.  They needed to arrange Hermione's "something" at once.

Xxx

The next morning, owls delivered the breakfast mail, and every member of Dumbledore's Army received a message:

THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE D.A. TONIGHT TO DISCUSS STRATEGY FOR THE COMING YEAR.  REPORT TO THE REGULAR PLACE AT 7:30 EXACTLY.  FOR SECURITY REASONS, DO NOT DISCUSS THIS MEETING WITH ANYONE, EVEN WITH OTHER MEMBERS!

Almost all the notes were exactly alike.

Xxx

Just before seven, Harry was passing through the Common Room.  He didn't see any trace of Hermione, Ginny or any other members of the D.A. except for Ron, and Ron was poring over their Divination homework in "The Eye and the I Ching".

Harry, mindful of the note in his pocket, looked around to be sure the Common Room was empty.  "Aren't you coming?"

"Coming?  Where?"

"You know," Harry dropped his voice.

"Oh, that!" Ron said.  "Go on ahead, mate; I'll get there on time."

Harry shrugged and made his way up to the Room of Requirement, the hidden classroom on the seventh floor that was home to the students who called themselves Dumbledore's Army and practiced countering the Dark Arts on their own.  Now that Dolores Umbridge was out of the picture, he didn't need to sneak up to the seventh floor with the Marauders' Map or the Cloak of Invisibility.  When he got to the room, though, he was the only one in it.

He waited.  At one minute past seven, another student entered.  Cho Chang.

A year earlier, Harry's profound crush on Cho might have left him blushing and speechless to be alone with her.  This year, however, shocked into a kind of bitter numbness by the death of Sirius Black, he didn't much care about her one way or the other.

"Hullo, Harry," Cho said tentatively.

"Hullo."

"Did you have a good summer?"

"It was all right," Harry said.  "And you?"

"Good enough, I guess."

"And what about Michael?"

Cho stared at Harry now, seeing a strange glint in his eye.  "If you mean Michael Corner, I don't know about his summer, nor do I care."

"Really?" Harry sneered.  "I'd heard you were seeing him."

"He wanted to see me, but that was before the summer.  And, the way he acted, I wouldn't want to see him again.  I'm sorry we're even in the same House."

"Didn't think you'd be so particular."

"And I didn't think you'd be so rude.  What's wrong, Harry?"

"Oh, nothing much!"  Harry was pacing now.  "Just the matter of my stepfather dying a few months ago.  Just finding out that Dumbledore's been playing me for a fool!"

"That's hard to believe, Harry . . ."

"You weren't there!  You didn't hear him!"  Harry seemed to catch himself, took a breath and lowered his voice.  "Maybe we should talk about something else."

"Yes, let's," Cho answered, her own voice tinged with anger.  "Let's talk about why you have to turn everything I say into an argument."

"That's funny, coming from you.  All I have to do is mention Hermione and you blow up!"

"I was wrong about that; I admit it, I'm sorry, and I think better of her now.  But this is about you, not me."

"What have I done?!"

"You shouted at me about Marietta last spring.  You shouted at her at dinner last night.  She didn't deserve it!"

"She deserved a lot worse!  She nearly got us all thrown out!"

"But she didn't!  Harry, she's on our side!"

"You're a fine judge of character.  You and Michael Corner."

"I told you that nothing happened, and it's over!"  They were shouting at each other now.  "If you're trying to hurt me with all this, you're wasting your time.  I've suffered through hurts far worse than this."

"Ah, we're back to Cedric Diggory, are we?"

"And so what if I am?  Harry, what does it matter to you?"

"Because."  Harry tried to continue, but couldn't.  He seemed angry and nervous at the same time.

"No you don't, Mister Boy Who Lived.  I'm tired of these fights, and I'm tired of not knowing what they're all about.  Now why does it matter?"

"Because!"

"Because you have a problem with Cedric?!"

"Just because!"

"He's dead, Harry!  How can there possibly be a problem?"

"Because I did it!"  Harry blurted out.  "I killed him!  I killed Cedric!"

Cho was shaking her head, trying to find her tongue.  "No," she finally managed.  "You said it was Voldemort.  Dumbledore said it."

"They never knew!"

"KNEW WHAT?"

There were tears on Harry's face.  "About me!  About how I wouldn't take the Cup!  About how I argued back and forth with Cedric and convinced him we should take the Cup together.  And I . . ."  Now Harry's mouth started moving with no words coming out.  "I, I helped him to the Cup, and I told him to grab it, and I sent him to Voldemort."  Harry's lower lip trembled.  "If I had just left him alone, he wouldn't be dead and you wouldn't be miserable and I . . . Oh, God, Cho I'm so sorry!"

Harry fell to his hands and knees on the cold stone floor, sobbing out the emotion he had tried to keep hidden for over a year.  He howled like an abandoned child.  His glasses clattered to the floor.  But Harry was past all caring about them.  He sobbed and sobbed, not even knowing if Cho was still in the Room of Requirement.

But she was, and, after Harry's crying had run its course, she knelt down besides Harry, picked up his glasses, wiped them on her robes, and handed them to him.

"You must hate me," Harry sniffled; "you must."

Cho shook her head.  "Harry, you had no way of knowing; nobody could have known.  It took me many months to realize that, but now I do.  But, if you insist on blaming yourself instead of Voldemort, then I have no choice but to forgive you."

"How?  How could you?"

On an impulse, Cho got behind Harry, wrapping her arms around him.  "It's as I told you last year in this very room, Harry Potter.  I really like you, and I always have."

Harry turned his head to face her, and realized that she was still the most beautiful girl he knew.  He also realized that she wasn't angry or upset, as he'd feared.  She was smiling at him, as she had smiled so many times before.

In the past, her smile had given his stomach nervous fits.  He felt something this time, too, but it wasn't nervousness.  It was something he had never felt for anyone before.

"Cho, I, I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything," she smiled, as she bent forward and kissed him softly on the lips.  Harry's heart started pounding in his ears, loud and fast, and he didn't care.  "Harry, do you think one day we'll do this when one of us isn't crying?"

"You're, you're actually making a joke of this?"

"I want to see you smile.  I want you to be happy, that's all."

"Where's the meeting?" Ron burst into the room.  "I got bogged down in—WHAT'S ALL THIS THEN!"

"Ron," Harry smiled, "can you just give us five more minutes?"  He turned back to a smiling Cho Chang.  "On second thought, make that ten minutes."


End file.
